Voyagers top Brewers

Voyagers' runner Jake Jarvis slides in at home as Brewers pitcher J.B. Kole covers the plate on a wild pitch during Saturday night's game at Centene Stadium, June 27, 2015.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS)Buy Photo

For the second straight night, the Great Falls Voyagers found themselves in a similar situation.

This time they handled it differently – kind of.

In front of 2,344 fans and amid 90-degree temperatures, the Voyagers defeated the Helena Brewers 11-5 on Saturday night at Centene Stadium.

The Voyagers, leaders of the North Division coming into the night with a 5-3 record, were fresh off a walk-off victory on Friday night against the Brewers. After Great Falls let a 10-1 lead evaporate, catcher Zach Fish swung at the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the ninth, a shot over the wall in left, for a 11-10 victory.

The Voyagers of manager Cole Armstrong held a 10-2 lead after five innings on Saturday and didn’t make the same mistake twice – though they were sloppy down the stretch.

Left-hander Tanner Banks started for the Voyagers (6-3) and pitched well. He fanned three while allowing just four hits and one earned run in five innings of work before being pulled for Drew Hasler.

Trailing 1-0, Great Falls got things going in the bottom of the second when Grant Massey walked, then stole second. Frank Califano then laid down a perfect bunt along the first base line, which got runners on first and third with one out.

Helena (3-7) right-hander J.B. Kole subsequently tried to pick off Califano at first and an errant throw allowed Massey to score, evening the score at one. Great Falls would plate two more runners, taking a 3-1 lead to the fourth, after an Antonio Rodriguez RBI and a wild pitch that scored Jake Jarvis from third.

Johan Cruz’s single opened the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Jones followed with double off the wall in right-field, and Landon Lassiter was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A RBI single by Massey scored one, which extended the lead to 4-1 and ended Kole’s rocky and uneasy night on the mound. Two batters later, with the bases jammed, Jarvis’ fly ball to right-field, a routine play, was dropped and another run scored, making it 5-1.

Silverio led off the bottom of the fifth with a mammoth shot to left-field that comfortably cleared the wall. After Helena loaded the bases, Jarvis roped one down the left-field line that cleared the bags to make it 10-2. Jarvis drove in four runs on the night.

Great Falls wraps up its five-game homestand, and three-game series with the Brewers, on Sunday at 1 in the afternoon.